I’ll Do It Again

Surrender

Feb 23

Most of us know the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and even though I have prayed it many times, I was halted the other day when I read verse 10 where Jesus says

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We know Jesus prayed God’s will be done in Matthew 26:39 before He went to the cross, but was that the first time He spoke these words?

Jesus existed before His arrival here on earth. He was with the Father and the Spirit in the beginning (John 1: 1-3). He was enjoying perfect communion, absolute joy, and unadulterated delight in heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

But they had a plan to save the creation from the mess they knew humans would make, and Jesus knew it all along.

They knew the men and women they would so carefully and delicately weave together in magnificent detail would rebel against them. They knew we would choose our own way and stray from their safe and loving arms.

God’s plan from the beginning was for Jesus to come down from heaven to be our Savior, a plan He agreed to long ago with words “Your will be done”.

Yes, He agreed to leave heaven- absolute perfection - for you and me!

It was a plan to bring heaven down to earth and two thousand years later, this is still God’s desire for you and me - to do God’s will in an attempt to “re-Edenize” the earth, according to Bible teacher and author Jen Wilkin.

Surrendering to God’s will and dying to self can be hard.

Sometimes it includes pain or discomfort. It can involve loving our enemies, forgiving one who has deeply wounded us, battling an illness, donating your fun money to those in need, etc. all to point others to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“…Not my will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42 (ESV)

So, while many of us have said yes to God’s will in our lives at one time or another, are we willing to do it again? Are we willing to allow God’s will to flow through our lives, with joy and potential pain, in an attempt to reach and bless others with the sweetness of the kingdom of heaven?

I find myself pondering this question again. Will I surrender my will to my Sovereign again? Will I lay down my strong desire to control again? Will I humble myself under His mighty hand, trusting Him with the outcome again (1 Peter 5:6)?

Will you pray with (and for) me to be like Jesus and say ‘I’ll do it again’?